Jump to content

Ag with kids

Legacy Members
  • Posts

    1513
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Ag with kids

  1. If it becomes an issue, I'm going to Belize on 6/29 and I'd be willing to take her through security and help her get to Belize. Because I CARE!!!
  2. https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/three-mile-island-accident.aspx
  3. In the past, a HUGE part of the cost in the upfront expenditure was fighting legal challenges. There were a number of "green" or "anti-nuke" organizations that employed lots of oppositional legal action to prevent them. One of the biggest was the Union of Concerned Scientists. They had been VEHEMENTLY opposed to ANYTHING nuclear since the late 60s... Three Mile Island (which released ZERO radiation), Chernobyl (Russian fuck up) and Fukishima (Bad, but not really). However, in the past few years, they apparently have seen the light and are promoting nuclear power. Which makes me very happy that they came to their senses. Things like this will go a long way to lowering the costs for nuclear to implement new plants.
  4. I'm liking the new scanners they have for your bags/shoes at some airports where you don't have to take your laptops out. When I travel for work I have my personal and work laptops so I need 2 of those bins. But, here in CRP the scanner lets you leave it in the bag. It was the same at SYR last week. That saves me the biggest hassle.
  5. This...except I don't meet them for a drink because they don't have lounge access either...suckers.
  6. Ah...this reminds me of my childhood. I lived about an hour or so from the Cotswolds growing up. We went there often - nice little day trip. We had one of those old churches in our town, too. Really cool attending service in a 700 year old church. And that little model village was really cool to a kid between 5 and 10... Thanks for bringing back the memories - should make the day brighter now.
  7. They're so ugly the earth rejects them...
  8. Nice...The Zulus are SWEET aircraft...Had this poster on my cube wall for awhile.
  9. I know 2 AH-64 pilots here at work that have made "hard landings"...it's apparently a beast. Glad these pilots are (relatively) Ok... I'm a Bell homer and I admit it, but then, I can admit when Boeing ugly shit does well. Especially since all they fucking do for the V-22 is AFCS/PFCS. Well...I guess that's kind of important. But, JFC their CLAWS are convoluted.
  10. Shit...LTE (Loss of Tailrotor Effectiveness) is not something I'd want to go through in a helicopter... There's not a lot of great solutions...go faster so that the TR is not needed as much and try a roll on landing (luckily AH-64s have wheeled gear) or try to drop collective and descend quickly to limit the rotation. Both are not good. Especially if the aircraft is close to the ground and/or moving slowly or both...
  11. I NEVER said that. The V-22 has over 500K flight hrs. Shit happens. Flight test has incidents. ALL flight test does. I lost 2 good friends in the flight testing of the 525. RIP Backstreet and Frenchy...both Marine experimental test pilots. That one was NOT pilot error. Then when you get into combat or combat training, there's a huge sense of urgency and maybe they skate too close to the edge. It sucks, but it happens. Well, I'd be better than you to tell them how it flies since I actually know and I'm not talking out my ass that it's a "difficult aircraft to fly (really land)". Because it is not... Kudos. And...are they wrong? Remember, if they're lying, they're risking their life with every flight. I will say that I won't get in a Robinson. Because I've had numerous experimental test pilots (you know, the guys who do first flight in rotorcraft) tell me they wouldn't get in one. Nor would the 2 Apache pilots I work with. Lots of those people (including the author of your article) haven't flown or flown in one. The Marines fought HARD to keep it. And then the Navy liked it so much that they wanted their own. If it sucked so back and was so dangerous, why would they replace part of their fleet with the V-22? BTW...I stated on a couple occasions that I worked on the V-22 simulator. Specifically in the rapid prototyping lab. We helped to develop numerous upgrades with pilot inputs for the aircraft over the years. Then those got implemented into the aircraft. But, if you want to call it the flux capacitor, cool. I like that.
  12. Dang...didn't think about that. I better get to buying some more of them.
  13. Wait till you find out I have 10 of them...😉
  14. Thanks for the clarification. For the record, I did expound on it later...I was just too tired to get into detail last night...sorry.
  15. From the link above - 11 Blackhawk crashes in 15 months = 0.73 crashes/month 22 incidents (they weren't all crashes but I'll include them just for you) in 31 years = 0.059 crashes/month Tell me you know absolutely nothing about flight testing without telling me you know absolutely nothing about flight testing. I worked on the Bell 525 (FBW commercial helicopter) from it's inception in 2010. It's still in certification. That's 12 years for a COMMERCIAL aircraft...18 years for the V-22 isn't abnormal. It was also embedded with the Marines starting in 2000...it didn't see COMBAT until 2007. I didn't say "only one" was pilot error. In fact, I said MOST were pilot error. I just specifically pointed out one - the VRS incident when the pilot was descending at over DOUBLE the allowable descent rate (if you fly outside the envelope don't be surprised if bad things happen to you - it's there for a reason). And...most of those were pilot error. Of the first 5 after deployment - only ONE, due to dust ingestion into the engine - was NOT due to pilot error. This is ABSOLUTELY not true. I've got hundreds of hours of flying the V-22 simulator (which, since the software is in every trainer in the world, has to fly like the real thing). It's WAY easier to fly AND land than a normal helicopter. All the controls are decoupled, unlike a regular helicopter. What is your experience flying it that gives you a different viewpoint? I'm good friends with a LOT of V-22 pilots and they all love it. Well...his article is nice doom and gloom, but definitely misleading...
  16. https://www.baumhedlundlaw.com/aviation-accident/helicopter-crashes/black-hawk-helicopter-crashes/ According to this..there have been 11 Blackhawk crashes between Dec 2019 and Feb 2021. So, 11 crashes in 15 months. There have been 14 V-22 crashes (and 8 other incidents) since 1991. Yes, there's more Blackhawks. But, that's still quite a few crashes.
  17. This is simply not true. See my comment above. Now...there WERE attempts to discontinue it - most notably by every Surly's favorite guy, Dick Cheney. And, yeah...there were no nukes on any of them. That's asinine.
  18. Yeah...I was at Bell from 2001-2018. Worked numerous years on the V-22 simulator. Below is what I stated was wrong. There was ONE engine fire incident. It had NOTHING to do with the the nacelle transitioning between aircraft and helicopter mode. There WAS a hydraulic leak on one, but it didn't cause a fire. It actually triggered a control law error. Most of the crashes have been pilot error or Vortex Ring State incidents (which in the worst case WAS pilot error because they were outside the flight envelope for descent rate). VRS basically means the wake forms a ring that begins to push the rotor down. Normally when you sink, you would add TCL (thrust control lever) to add power - but that only INCREASES the force pushing down making the descent rate increase. Only way to get out is to fly out of the wake - which can be done by just pushing the nacelle wheel and rotating the nacelle a few degrees...the wake then stops coming down on top of the rotor and voila you're out of VRS. And I disagree the V-22 was "plagued with problems". Yes. There were several crashes prior to going operational in 2007 (IIRC). But, ALL flight test programs have had crashes. From 1991-2006 there were 4 crashes (and 1 was pilot error). And 10s of thousands of flight hours.
  19. The early aircraft were plagued with problems to include the transition from vertical lift to straight flight. Something about the rotor head and it's transitioning mechanism which was powered via hydro which lead to fires. Incorrect.
  20. No it's not. (arguing with you)
  21. They aren't. And RIP to those Marines...
  22. Oh hell no. I wouldn't either. Because I have this strange urge to not die at sea, I guess... I've got a buddy that has a 42' that he uses for charters though. He's not stupid enough to break rules and lose his captain's license.
  23. My deck boat has legal capacity for 12 people. Any larger and it's classified as a yacht which doesn't have a "set" number of passengers allowed. However, I'm quite sure if the Coast Guard or TP&W came up, they get to use "discretion" in deciding if there's too many people on it - beyond just the number of life vests/cushions.
×
×
  • Create New...